Figured Stones

Exploring the Lithic Imaginary

Paul Prudence

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English

Xylem Books
19 August 2022

History of Art & Design Styles; Philosophy; Rocks, minerals & fossils

'Figured Stones' is a masterpiece of natural philosophy and a vital contribution to the emerging field of vibrant materialism. It is both a manual of visionary geology and a treatise on lithic scrying; a manifesto on rock veneration and an exploration of deep-time consciousness. In vivid and lucent prose, Paul Prudence crosses the 'blood-brain barrier of dimensionality', condensing and expanding both space and time by drawing the extremities of scale into paradoxical alignment. Vast landscapes become visible in miniature surfaces, and, liberated from our reductive impressions of time, rock itself becomes pliant, mercurial and alive. In this expanded state, the lithosphere is self-aware, memorising its own telluric activity, from weather patterns to the fluid dynamics of rivers.

With Prudence as a guide we encounter rocks as messengers, talismans and oracles. Stones become portals to other worlds and act as intermediaries to the domains of gods, demons and spirits. Geology acts as a divinatory system for decoding dreams, or as a tool for connecting us to our greater ancestral consciousness. At a time when we are barely cognisant of the lives of other-than-human beings, Prudence resuscitates the pre-Socratic doctrine of hylozoism - that all matter has life. Throughout the pages of 'Figured Stones', rocks become agents for studying planetary introspection and geological sentience - they reveal an 'inter-animating spirit of mind and matter where biological and mineral kingdoms collude'.

'Figured Stones' is destined to become an important book in a new movement that acknowledges and embraces more-than-human life at a critical time in our global ecology.

By: Paul Prudence
Imprint: Xylem Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 190mm, Width: 120mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 159g
ISBN: 9781916393578
ISBN 10: 1916393578
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 19 August 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Paul Prudence is a writer and artist. His essays have been featured in Reliquiae, Substance and Holo, and he is a regular contributor to Neural Mag. His audio-visual work has been exhibited and performed internationally at intermedia arts festivals.

Reviews for Figured Stones: Exploring the Lithic Imaginary

'Partway between Caillois and Bachelard ... A masterpiece of literary rocaille.' (Mónica Belevan) 'His erudition is deep, his scales dizzying, the connections he forges often quite startling. These figured stones vibrate with an excess of being.' (Aashish Kaul) 'The book affected me a lot. It is transporting and an exhortation to mindful observance.' (Rebecca Bligh)